Shemini Atzeret

The holiday immediately following Sukkot is known as Shemini Atzeret (שמיני עצרת - "the Eighth [day] of Assembly"; Ashkenazic pron. shmini-atseres) is a Jewish holiday.

Shemini Atzeret is often mistakenly referred to as the eighth day of the Festival of Sukkot, which occupies the seven preceding days. In fact, Shemini Atzeret is a holiday unto itself. On Shemini Atzeret the sukkah is left and meals are eaten inside the house.

In the Diaspora, an additional day is celebrated, the second day being separately referred to as Simchat Torah. In Israel and Reform Judaism, the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are combined into a single day and the names are used interchangeably.